Eight states sue OpenAI, say ChatGPT is not safe for children
As Reuters reported earlier, OpenAI faces a new wave of lawsuits from eight U.S. states accusing the company of harming children and misleading customers about ChatGPT's safety. The separate complaints, filed by Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho and Montana, allege that OpenAI has illegally put profit ahead of safety.
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OpenAI is accused of misleading the public about the safety of its chatbot, putting everyone at risk.
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A series of complaints alleges that OpenAI violated local consumer protection laws by failing to warn customers about the dangers of ChatGPT, and several lawsuits have been filed by family members of teens and adults who claim the AI chatbot played a role in the deaths of their loved ones. They claim that while OpenAI misleadingly presented ChatGPT as a "safe and youth-friendly tool that prioritizes safety", it was in fact "dangerous to vulnerable users" – including by "degrading critical thinking skills, encouraging paranoia and delusions, offering dangerous medical advice, and promoting unhealthy relationships".
Common Sense Media says ChatGPT poses an "unacceptable risk" to teenagers
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Additionally, states accuse OpenAI of collecting data from minors and not doing enough to prevent underage users from using the chatbot. The lawsuits also point to recent AI hacking incidents as evidence of OpenAI's alleged "recklessness."
"OpenAI has devolved from its original mission as a public, non-profit organization that prioritized safety into a cautionary tale of what can happen when the development of a tool as powerful as AI is not based on safety, but instead is driven by a profit-at-all-costs mentality that sidesteps basic safeguards," the Arizona complaint claims.
In an emailed statement to The Verge, OpenAI spokesman Drew Posatari says the company has built "industry-leading age-specific protections" into ChatGPT:
While no system can be perfect, we'll continue to work with experts to inform our work and build additional safeguards such as parental controls, crash reminders and age-appropriate model protections into place today. We are committed to working with states to advance pragmatic AI policies that apply to the entire AI industry – not just one company.
The states are asking the courts to force OpenAI to pay a series of civil penalties and stop misleading the public about the safety of ChatGPT. Some states also require the deletion of illegally collected personal data.
Update, October 14: Added statement from OpenAI.
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